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Under My Wing  by Edoraslass 1 Review(s)
Raksha The DemonReviewed Chapter: 39 on 5/28/2006
A portrait of two people under severe stress - the Nanny and Faramir. Nanny is over-worked and desperately needs a break from round-the-clock care of the now motherless and still terribly unhappy chlidren. Faramir is too young to understand stress, or needing a break, but he is in terrible pain, Boromir can't really help him (being a bereaved child himself), Denethor has (typically) isolated himself in his grief; and Faramir is obviously terrified of losing another of the few constants in his life, his nanny, who has been more of a mother to him than poor Finduilas was able to be. It's really horribly sad.

The description of Faramir at the end, with the circles under his eyes, is almost - he's only five years old, too young to be so haunted, especially several weeks after his mother's death. Knowing Faramir, he's picked up the sorrowful vibes of the Steward's household (and the Steward) and he's just too young to handle all that emotion as well as his own pain.

Nanny at least can put grief and sorrow in some kind of context, and unlike Faramir, her world hasn't fallen apart. I do hope she will get to take a rest soon.

Author Reply: Thank you! Yes, it's hard to explain things like death to children, - they're just too young to actually understand never being able to see mother/father/whoever again. It's no wonder the boys are just lost and unable to grasp such a sorrowful concept.

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